A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman
January 13, 2008 Wingrad Approach Creates Waves
The Winograd Comission’s report is still two weeks away but it seems that Minister Avigdor Lieberman may have decided to preempt the report and announce his decision to withdraw from the coalition in the coming days. His excuse will be the fact that Prime Minister Olmert is entering into discussions on final status issues. No one really understands why Lieberman does what he does. Why he entered and why he will leave the coalition will apparently remain a mystery. Lieberman’s departure will not bring down the coalition but now Olmert will be totally dependent on Minister of Defense Barak and the Labor party.
Analysts claim that the commission’s report will concentrate on the decision to launch the ground assault in the final two days of the war. In the new book Korei Ha’akavish [Spider’s Web] by Amos Har’el and Avi Isascharof, Olmert’s claim that the offensive was launched to improve the Security Council resolution is demolished. The authors show that by the time the offensive was actually begun, Israel’s demands for changes had already been accepted by the Lebanese.
President Bush continues his Middle East voyage. Today, he made headlines by once again underscoring the threat that Iran is to most of the Middle East and the world. His hosts in the Persian Gulf no doubt agree with him, but question whether the United State is up to the task of restraining Iran. Most have already decided that it is not.
Israelis tonight are freezing under the worse cold wave in five years. While people are trying to keep warm, Israel’s electric company is trying hard to meet demands. Today electricity usage was as high as the hottest days of summer. Unfortunately this cold wave has not been accompanied by any rain or snow. Mt. Hermon is -10 Celsius, but without a drop of snow on it.
